The Best and Worst of One Life to Live

[AndySmith]

Here are some clips with Dorian and Blair, from around the time KDP joined the show. What's interesting is how sophisticated early KDP's Blair was (especially as she covers all trace of her Southern accent). What's also interesting is how Dorian-esque she was, too. She seems to be more like Dorian's daughter than Cassie was...and even Max agrees with me! lol

 

 

[boes]

Here are some clips with Dorian and Blair, from around the time KDP joined the show. What's interesting is how sophisticated early KDP's Blair was (especially as she covers all trace of her Southern accent). What's also interesting is how Dorian-esque she was, too. She seems to be more like Dorian's daughter than Cassie was...and even Max agrees with me! lol

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukfjp1AzAu4

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_X7F5y6TMaU

Man, do I miss this show and these performers. There's nothing left that even comes close.

[AndySmith]

So. Best and worst recasts?

 

Some of the better ones:

 

Erika Slezak and Viki

Robin Strasser as Dorian

Elaine Princi as Dorian (she was so good I wish the show had found a way to keep her as well once Strasser returned)

Judith Light as Karen Wolek

 

Some of the worst:

 

Any Joey after Nathan Fillon

Any Kevin after Kirk Geiger

Edited March 29, 2016 by AndySmith

[UYI]

Don't forget Ava Haddad and Laura Koffman as Cassie! The second and fourth actresses in the role, respectively, and the best known, too.

 

Kevin Stapleton was a good Kevin.

 

Nathaniel Marston as Al. Michael Tipps looked more like a combo of JDP & FH, but Nate could actually act.

 

Karen Witter made a good replacement for Andrea Evans as Tina, too.

 

And David Fumero as Cristian deserves a shout out. He eclipsed Yorlin Madera in the role for many people. 

Edited March 30, 2016 by UYI

[TeeVee329]

Any Kevin after Kirk Geiger

 

I wasn't really watching while any previous Kevin was about, but I really liked Dan Gauthier as Kevin.  It still irritates me that the last appearance of actor/character on the show was him having to listen to Kelly - his ex-wife with whom he had spent years raising the child she conceived with his dead son - whine about how she was now in love with his brother again.

 

In other news, this isn't exactly the same, but the show deciding to recast Scott Clifton as Schuyler Joplin and create a new role for the already-contracted Brett Claywell as Kyle Lewis worked out quite well for this viewer.

Edited March 30, 2016 by TeeVee329

[jsbt]

I remember Kirk Geiger well but AFAIC Dan Gauthier is the only Kevin.

Edited March 30, 2016 by jsbt

[AndySmith]

I wouldn't say Dan Gauthier was the worst Kevin, but he never did anything for me. Granted, it may be that the only other time I've ever seen him in anything else was Melrose Place, and I hated him there, so who knows.

[Melgaypet]

I liked Kevin Stapleton and Kirk Geiger, though my memories of the latter are fuzzier, but Gauthier eclipsed them all, IMO. When I think of Kevin, that's who I see in my mind.

 

This counts as an unpopular opinion, I think, but Heather Tom was my favorite Kelly.

 

It took a while, but I grew to really love Jerry vor Dorn as Clint.

 

I enjoyed Chris Stack as Michael McBain much more than I ever did Nathaniel Marston, may he rest in peace.

 

Who else? Kassie dePaiva, of course. Daphne Duplaix was a wonderful Rachel. Robert Gorrie did a good job, though Eddie Alderson will always be Matthew in my heart.

 

Can Trevor St. John count as one of the best and worst? Or does he not count at all?

 

Worst recasts? Hmm. The post-Fillion Joeys were dismal. Tim Gibbs was the worst Kevin. Andrew Trischetta, bless his heart, was always out of his depth, though I do think he improved a bit on OLTL 2.0. Whoever that was that pretended to be Rebecca Lewis in the awful KAD killer story was terrible.

 

Who else? I'm drawing a blank. Maybe I'm easy on recasts or the most egregious ones were before my time? David Fumero started off rough, but grew into the role beautifully (or at least I thought so, I know plenty found him wooden and boring always). Jessica lost something with the recast, but I think Bree Williamson improved a lot and was capable of better than the writers gave her. So I can't count either one of them. The Paiges were all dull as dirt. Larry Lau turned a character I hated into one I was mostly apathetic to, so...good for him? I think most of the actors I thought were terrible originated their characters

[UYI]

I guess Patricia Elliott as Renee counts as a best recast, because Phyllis Newman didn't last very long.

 

And Nicholas Walker will never replace JDP as Max, but he was at least competent, from what I've seen.

Edited March 31, 2016 by UYI

[AndySmith]

The race changing aside, KDP was a good recast. JVD was...ok as Clint. Clint Ritchie will always be Clint to me.

 

Of course, a good recast doesn't necessarily have to be someone who was better than the previous actor, but someone who worked and fit into the role.

 

And Nicholas Walker will never replace JDP as Max, but he was at least competent, from what I've seen.

 

And damn if he didn't have some chemistry with Gabrielle, which definitely helped...their romp in the barn was pretty hot.

 

[jsbt]

Heather was also my favorite Kelly, though God knows Gina has been incredible on other soaps (and could've been on OLTL last time).

 

I do think Robert Gorrie and Daphnee Duplaix were both very good as Matthew and Rachel. If the show ever returned I'd go after both of them again. I also think JVD did a very good job with both sides of a different yet similar Clint.

Edited March 31, 2016 by jsbt

[dubbel zout]

There's something inherently warm about Heather Tom, so even though she was Sonfucker, I can't hate her as Kelly, even though Kelly was the worst a lot of the time.

 

I don't think Clint Ritchie could have made a drunken Clint's "I just wanna dance!" line as funny as JvD did. JvD got to show a lot of Clint's dark side, and I think he excelled at that. I did love Ritchie's OG Clint, though. I think they were both right for the Clint they had.

Edited March 31, 2016 by dubbel zout

[eXiled]

I loved Heather Tom's shaky, on-the-edge-of-a-breakdown Kelly much more than Gina T's cool newspaper publisher and professional Buchanan girlfriend.

 

I still remember the Kelly who first arrived in town with her eclectic fashions and warm, yet sometimes dizzy, personality. She morphed into a harder woman over the years, and by the end of her run, I just didn't recognize Kelly.

 

I adored Gina T's Dinah Marler on Guiding Light, though, so it's not that I didn't like the actress. I think the show began writing more toward Gina's strengths. That may have been a more comfortable fit for Gina, but it confused me as a viewer.

 

Dan Gauthier is the only Kevin who ever mattered to me. The show seemed to have such a horrid time casting Viki's sons. I thought Dan G was the perfect combo of entitlement, imperiousness, and hidden emotional depth. His Kevin was the first to make me feel something more than contempt (Tim Gibbs got on my very last nerve).

[AndySmith]

I still remember the Kelly who first arrived in town with her eclectic fashions and warm, yet sometimes dizzy, personality. She morphed into a harder woman over the years, and by the end of her run, I just didn't recognize Kelly.

 

Yeah, Kelly was fun and likeable when she first appeared, and during the first few years she was on. But, as with many things on this show around 1998 or so, she began a downward spiral into suckiness (thank you, Jill Farren Phelps!).

Edited March 31, 2016 by AndySmith

[UYI]

I didn't watch HT's Kelly, and I honestly think, even if most of Gina's best work was on GL or Y&R, she just "feels" more like OLTL to me, if that makes sense. There's a sentimentality attached to her as Kelly for me.

 

Tracy Melchior was Kelly for about five seconds in 2003 (she's better known as Kristen on B&B), but I still remember a scene with her by the pool with David where she was in a green bikini. I think her Kelly and David might have been really hot if given a chance.

 

I liked Tom Degnan as Joey, and I wouldn't mind seeing Don Jeffcoat's Joey, either, as adored him as Eric Antonio on The Wonder Years, as a boy who briefly liked Winnie. Come at me, haters! :P

[TeeVee329]

I liked Tom Degnan as Joey

 

I didn't dislike Tom Degnan per say, but the writing wasn't there for him.  The show wasn't interested in Joey for Joey - he was there to prop up Kelly's epic fail of a return, help showcase Aubrey, look the fool for McBain, and sign off on new secret brother Rex.  Blargh.

Edited March 31, 2016 by TeeVee329

[jsbt]

I think Heather's Kelly was a very honest portrayal of Kelly, a deeply damaged woman who tried to use prestige and escaping into other lovers, other families to mask her confused sense of self. Her meltdown in '04 was a long time coming and HT played it to the hilt. It ultimately made me a huge fan of Kevin and Kelly - a couple JFP had created with Gina and Tim Gibbs, a couple everyone previously had despised - because in Heather and Dan Gauthier's versions the show actually played out and wrote the characters very honestly during that arc. Dan's Kevin came onto the show as what Kevin had become: A cad who had fucked his way through the Cramer family and didn't know how to stop being what he was or what was expected of him. Heather's Kelly came onto the show as what Kelly was: A mess pretending to be perfect. It was very rare for OLTL (or any soap in the last decade-plus) to be so honest with the failings and bad turns of their characters, and it didn't last, but it did make Kevin and Kelly into a dysfunctional couple who were perfect and also terrible for each other.

 

I thought Gina had the most chemistry during her return in her brief scenes with Dan, who I know they'd wanted to use more. The shame and guilt she exhibited when she talked about sleeping with Duke was intense, and Kelly's often been about those things while pretending she's not. You can't use her as a wacky Girl Friday if you don't deal in that stuff first, and they didn't last time. I didn't buy that Joey and Kelly's reunion would work out at all, I thought she was just running back to another crutch.

[AndySmith]

Larry Lau turned a character I hated into one I was mostly apathetic to, so...good for him?

 

I guess that counts as a win, then? lol I definitely hated Sam a lot less when Lau played the role, but I think it had less to do with the recast and more the fact that they dislodged Sam away from Nora by then. Nothing against Kale Brown, as much as I hated Sam, it wasn't due to the acting. Unlike, say, Jen Rappaport, who I hated as a character and wasn't a fan of the actress either. Granted, I hated the RappaDavidsons regardless of who was playing them, they're definitely among my most disliked characters on the show (though I probably liked Lindsay the most, even if she was squandered), along with maybe Sloane Carpenter.

[eXiled]

Ugh, reading about the RappaDavisons takes me back to darker times on the show. 1999 was such an awful year that when I tried to re-watch on Youtube recently, I gave up because of that family's ubiquity and dominance. And, though I know this opinion is unpopular, the only time I ever cared about Lindsay is when she killed Spencer Truman.

 

I love Blair like crazy, so that arc surprised and warmed my cold dark heart. Lindsay kind of became an honorary Cramer during that period. I wish it had stuck. I always felt that despite the family and the men in her life, Lindsay's main problem was loneliness and lack of direction. If she'd become Dorian's adopted sister and Blair's bestie, Lindsay would always have had something to do.

[AndySmith]

I liked Lindsay's sort of friendship with Dorian, and even her relationship with RJ. I wish the show had invested more into those relationships.

[eXiled]

I believe Lindsay was misused during the bulk of Catherine Hickland's run. Watching Lindsay and Nora fight over a man--any man--was cringeworthy to me. Unfortunately that's who Lindsay became: The Persistent Thorn in Nora's Side. She could have been a greater character if she'd been allowed out of Nora's orbit.

[AndySmith]

Which is probably why Dorian worked so much better as a character. Her rivalry with Viki was great, but they also had Dorian interacting with other characters as well, and in many cases it worked. Honestly, as much as I loved the Viki/Dorian rivalry, if that was all either character did, it would have gotten boring. And that was the problem with Lindsay. As you said, 90% of her time on the show did feel like all she did was annoy Nora. They really could have done more with her.

Edited April 2, 2016 by AndySmith

[jsbt]

I liked Laurence Lau a lot, especially with HBS who he did have real chemistry with (and she capitalized on it in interviews, though she herself had campaigned for Gregg Marx to get the role). He made Sam a lot more tolerable, excepting the period where he was sniffing around Blair. The problem was that despite his talent Sam and most of the Rappaports (except Lindsay, for whom steam ran out a while later) fundamentally had no place on the show, so it was perfect and easy to lift him out and use his murder as a catalyst for story.

 

It didn't surprise me when Lindsay killed Sam - I thought it was perfect and I now suspect it was a Josh Griffith idea, because judging by some of his other dayitme work I think it fit his very dark and cynical or at least haunted view of a lot of soap characters and their histories, and it's one I agree with. Lindsay and Sam's relationship had always been codependent and tangled and full of love/hate. During regular intervals in the JFP era they would either be plotting against each other, spitting hate, conspiring together or kissing each other, from week to week. When she had a psychotic break and couldn't tell reality from fantasy it wasn't a stretch to suspect that even if Linds wasn't trying to kill her ex-husband he'd end up dead. Lindsay's backstory, the loving wife and mother who carpooled the kids, wiped noses and kept house for years but could never compare to the man's job or past love, very clearly made her out to be a desperate housewife before the primetime show itself.

 

I think the show tried a few times to broaden Lindsay's scope as a character, especially when she first got out of St. Anne's and she became the sort of Mrs. Robinson to Rex, was orbiting David, etc. And I think she worked on the show as that kind of mover and shaker for a couple more years, but I honestly never bought that deeply into the backburner romance with R.J. - which I think they both deserved better than - and by the time she became nothing more than Marcie's talk-to and Nora's regular scold, I was ready for her to go. And I really loved Cat Hickland on the show, but I would've just only brought her in and out for short-term story stints. Which is ultimately what the show ended up doing.

Edited April 2, 2016 by jsbt

[AndySmith]

excepting the period where he was sniffing around Blair

 

FWIW, I actually though Laurence Lau had more chemistry with Kassie DePaiva than Kale Browne did. Plus, not to sound too superficial, but it might be part of the reason was I always thought Browne's Sam seemed too old for her, which is funny, because Browne is only 4 years older than Lau, and only 10 years older than Kassie.

Edited April 2, 2016 by AndySmith

[TeeVee329]

I did enjoy Lindsey and Nora's many scrapes over the years - one of the scenes from my first years of watching OLTL I remember was them grappling in a garbage compactor or something over the tape of Lindsey admitting her role in Nora's memory loss - but it was a bell the show rang a time too many. 

 

Something I was never into was the show's use of Lindsey as the wicked witch in daughter Jen's life because I didn't really give a crap about Jen.

Edited April 2, 2016 by TeeVee329

[jsbt]

I just didn't see anything with KDP - I actually thought she had more chemistry with Kale Browne. Vice versa with Browne vs. Lau with Hillary.

 

The big showdown with Lindsay and Nora (with the garbage compactor, etc.) that finally ended their long-standing cold war was well-earned, and Gary Tomlin knew they needed to finally do it. There are several moments in there that were very satisfying for a Nora fan like me, who really liked Cat on the show and liked Lindsay but despised everything JFP had just allowed her to get away with against Nora, like one very deliberate scene in there when they're scuffling and Nora finally just clocks Lindsay in the face, full fist, and I think knocks her out cold. I think Tomlin knew a lot of the audience still needed that going back to 1998, and I appreciated it.

 

The only problem is that that whole storyline was predicated on two things that didn't work or were truly damaging: One, the Troy/Nora romance which did not work on any level. And two, the fact that Troy's 'love' for Nora was supposed to be proven by his dedication to his cruel scheme against Lindsay in which he seduced her, wooed her, made her fall in love and then put her behind bars for Nora. It was very difficult to root for Nora and impossible to root for Troy given his behavior, especially since Cat totally sold Lindsay's love for Troy and then because - as the show quickly realized - Cat and Ty Treadway had seriously scorching chemistry. By the time it got to Nora and Lindsay were wrestling around in the garbage I just wanted it all over. Later in the year they went for Troy and Lindsay for real, and they were right.

Edited April 2, 2016 by jsbt

[AndySmith]

most of the Rappaports (except Lindsay, for whom steam ran out a while later) fundamentally had no place on the show

 

The main problem with the RappaDavidsons was they were just parachuted into the show, one at a time, and instead of allowing them to become a part of the show organically, they all almost latched onto the the Buchanans. And almost only the Buchanans. Within a year or so, each one found themselves in a relationship with a Buchanan, a spouse/SO of a Buchanan, or a Buchanan ex.

 

Sam - broke up Bo and Nora and ended up with Nora (and Blair was more or less his beard while he pined away for Nora)

Lindsay - married Clint then moved on to Bo

Will - broke up Jessica and Christian and ended up with Jessica (granted, Roseannae played a part in that too, but still)

Grace - Joey and Kevin are literally having fistfights over her before she married Kevin

Ben - ends up with Viki (and then is revealed to be Asa's son, which is a ugh on it's own)

Jennifer - goes after Christian, the ex of her brother's girlfriend

Melanie - ends up with Bo

 

Having them all tied into the Buchanan/Lords was a just a mistake. Maybe if some of them met and interacted more with other families in Llanview, it might not have been so offensive? All it did was set up one of most uninteresting, forced, and boring family "feuds" ever.

Edited April 2, 2016 by AndySmith

[TeeVee329]

To complete change course, I just stumbled across a favorite of mine, David ambushing the Buchanans with his reality show:

 

 

This scene includes one of my favorite lines from Clint and his faithful companion Gun ("Alright, I've had it, everybody duck except David"), another gem from David ("Maybe we don't need a Nora"), and reminded me of the days when Ford was just a douchey dayplayer and not the show's "bleeding heart heartthrob" or whatever shit they tried to sell with him.

[AndySmith]

Speaking of David, here's a nice scene of Jean Randolph laying the smackdown on him (like she did to so may others). And once upon a time, David wan genuinely in love with Tina!

 

 

I always like Dorian and David. From their cat & mouse games while people still thought he was Viki's brother...

 

 

... to the twisted marriage Jean Randolph forced them into.

 

 

Robin Strasser really was great in both clips.

Edited April 2, 2016 by AndySmith

[Pete Martell]

I never liked GT's Kelly. Some roles are Kryptonite and somehow, even though that got Gina her start on soaps, Kelly was Kryptonite with her. I never got past the heinous story where she ran Blair off the road, covered up her crime, and was somehow the victim in the narrative, while Blair, who had a late-term miscarriage, was a nasty bitch.

 

Of all the Buchanan recasts, I will always think Chris McKenna was the best, and aside from the Joey/Dorian story, that was the only time I cared about Joey as a character. 

 

Dan Gauthier was fine, but Kirk Geiger was my favorite Kevin. 

 

I thought Elaine Princi was a very underrated Dorian and I'm sorry she's often just written off as a placeholder. OLTL was lucky to have her. 

[AndySmith]

I never liked GT's Kelly. Some roles are Kryptonite and somehow, even though that got Gina her start on soaps, Kelly was Kryptonite with her. I never got past the heinous story where she ran Blair off the road, covered up her crime, and was somehow the victim in the narrative, while Blair, who had a late-term miscarriage, was a nasty bitch.

 

Is that fault of the actress, the way the character was written, or both?

[Pete Martell]

Is that fault of the actress, the way the character was written, or both?

 

For me, both. The writing was awful but I found Gina to be cold and unsympathetic. 

 

Regarding the Sloan/Viki story, I thought it was well-acted, and in theory I understood the story, but the story was somewhat rushed, and it was unfortunate that they needed to trash Clint and her history with Clint in order to try to make the pairing the ideal for Viki. There's also the issue that she was with Sloan because he reminded her of the father whom we later learned sexually abused her, and she even had nightmares where he turned into her father - I don't know what to say about that. 

 

Viki and Clint #1 will always be my favorite pairing for Viki. For all the talk from some fans over the years about Clint being a pig and holding her back, I don't think Viki was ever stronger than when she was with Clint. He wasn't a perfect man, but he was a decent and loving one. I am sorry that this had to be changed in later years to facilitate a breakup. 

 

While I love Jerry ver Dorn, due to his years as Ross Marler, I never saw any chemistry with Erika Slezak, and I spent enough time on TWOP venting about the writing for whoever the hell his "Clint" was to go there again. 

[UYI]

Did Lindsay's lack of relevance as a character really begin once Jen was murdered? Not that I mind that part, because fuck Jen. But I loved Lindsay, and I can see how that might have hurt her standing on the show (in addition to the show not letting her expand her circle of characters).

 

I wonder if Karen Witter would have played Tina again in 2008/2011 had AE never wanted to return. I would have been okay with that.

 

Starr and Asa, 2001. Phil Carey complemented KA on her talent at such a young age in an interview around this time--it was in 2001, at age 10, that she became the youngest contract actor/actress working in soaps. If only he knew how things would turn out later on. (Sorry, Kristen.)

 

Edited April 3, 2016 by UYI

[jsbt]

Did Lindsay's lack of relevance as a character really begin once Jen was murdered?

 

No, she was already sort of there in that zone. But it definitely cemented it, I think.

 

I do think Erika and Jerry verDorn had real chemistry - he was very smart and could keep up with her, and there was a bracing energy in that that was very different from Clint Ritchie's more easy, soulful and comfortable fit. But I was also hurting from the loss of Charlie and while I thought they were nice together I didn't fully buy into Viki and Jerry's Clint until Prospect Park, where I thought they especially crackled bouncing off each other. Still, I would also have been happy to see her with a new man. The characters both still had plenty of life and possibility left to them, and I think that was a testament to what both of them brought to the characters to invigorate them. As Snidely Whiplash as some of Clint #2's storylines got, I thought the performer and the foundation stone of the character's change - the death of Asa, the Buchanan power vacuum and the need of the once-prodigal son to save his family - made most of it work. Clint evolved, both for better and worse. The slippery slope concerned not abusing that.

Edited April 3, 2016 by jsbt

[Pete Martell]

Did Lindsay's lack of relevance as a character really begin once Jen was murdered? Not that I mind that part, because fuck Jen. But I loved Lindsay, and I can see how that might have hurt her standing on the show (in addition to the show not letting her expand her circle of characters).

 

I always thought Lindsay was a plot device, enlivened by Cat Hickland. Over time her use faded. With anyone else in the role, Lindsay would have been lucky to last a year.

[AndySmith]

but the story was somewhat rushed, and it was unfortunate that they needed to trash Clint and her history with Clint in order to try to make the pairing the ideal for Viki

 

Probably some of the worst character assassination on this show was throwing Clint under the bus to prop up Sloane.

 

While I love Jerry ver Dorn, due to his years as Ross Marler, I never saw any chemistry with Erika Slezak

 

Have to agree with that, more or less. Erika and Clint Ritchie just had something special.

 

No, she was already sort of there in that zone. But it definitely cemented it, I think.

 

The problem was, most her storyline centered around her family and her feud with Nora. Take away one or both, and there wasn't much left.

[TeeVee329]

Did Lindsay's lack of relevance as a character really begin once Jen was murdered? Not that I mind that part, because fuck Jen. But I loved Lindsay, and I can see how that might have hurt her standing on the show (in addition to the show not letting her expand her circle of characters).

 

Like jsbt said, I think Lindsay had already faded into the woodwork by the time Jen was murdered, but of course, not having any family on canvas certainly gave her less opportunity to be used.

 

I do think Erika and Jerry verDorn had real chemistry - he was very smart and could keep up with her, and there was a bracing energy in that that was very different from Clint Ritchie's more easy, soulful and comfortable fit. But I was also hurting from the loss of Charlie and while I thought they were nice together I didn't fully buy into Viki and Jerry's Clint until Prospect Park, where I thought they especially crackled bouncing off each other.

 

Yeah, I was kinda fine with Viki and Clint being friends, confidants, and co-heads of their branch of the Buchanans because I did think they had chemistry in that sense and didn't really need to see them romantically reunited (my bias re: Clint and Kim being well established).  I got more into them as a couple on Prospect Park, but I still think that dynamic was not sustainable. 

Edited April 3, 2016 by TeeVee329

[jsbt]

I think it would be easy to buy them coming apart again because of who Clint had become, which the new show exploited organically - and then subverted a bit by revealing Clint was on mind-altering drugs, but the fact remains that Clint's Asa-esque tendencies were firmly established before the new series. With or without outside intervention that side of Clint will always be there.

 

Were the show to somehow amazingly return once more I suspect it would be highly unlikely you'd be able to get both actors back full-time, even if Erika Slezak is a self-confessed workaholic. Given that, while I'd otherwise be inclined to have Viki play the field a bit more, I'd likely just settle them back together and leave it there while keeping that push-pull they have going. You can still do that kind of internal power drama for married couples - AW proved it with Mac and Rachel. And I think Erika and Jerry had a different kind of romantic chemistry from Clint Ritchie, but it was there.

Edited April 4, 2016 by jsbt

[AndySmith]

A really nice scene between Asa and Dorian, when they were a thing for like 5 minutes in the 80s. Great chemistry between the actors.

 

[AndySmith]

Always loved this scene. Drunk Dorian keeps popping up like a whack-a-mole to insult Viki and Sloane. Every time they think they've swatted her away...also, this has to be one of Viki's loudest outfits ever.

 

 

Interesting that the show already had a blond white character on the show at this point called Lindsay. And Clint was involved with her too...

[TeeVee329]

Something I hated on "General Hospital" this week - local mobster Sonny having no qualms about walking through a police academy graduation party (and actually taking part in the applause) to harass the police commissioner about why she hadn't arrested his mobster enemy yet - reminded me of something I loved on OLTL.  I just posted the actual press conference part, but this whole episode from 2009 was about the community's pride in the cops taking down a drug ring and acknowledging their bravery and celebrating them.  SO refreshing considering most soaps are anchored by anti-heroes like Sonny and Victor Newman.  

And, of course, because I'm me, there's a snippet of Kish angst, with the amazing look on Brett Claywell's face when Kyle watches Fish get his medal.

[jsbt]

I remember this. It was good.

[tessaray]

I almost wish I hand't watched that.  I (still) miss this show so much. 

[boes]

13 hours ago, tessaray said:

I almost wish I hand't watched that.  I (still) miss this show so much. 

Man, so do I.

[Rick Kitchen]

I was just rewatching Kish episodes online.  If only Show hadn't gotten cold feet and just dumped them.  Theirs was a great story.

[TeeVee329]

If you're so inclined, there's a Twitter poll asking your opinion on the best OLTL story written by Ron.  You know which one I voted for:

[Panopticon]

That was a weirdly difficult question for me. The Tale of Two Todds had wonderful mini-climaxes (the Vickerman premiere); the ability to exploit soaps' great advantage of actors keeping roles for decades (Starr at least as importantly as the main players); some of my favorite soap scenes ever (Todd and Blair in the cabin); some great acting; the opportunity for wonderful family scenes as well as romantic ones; and an overall heartbeat that did leave me frantically wanting to see the next episode. But on the other hand... the emotional beats got stomped on by a needless whodunit (just swallow your pride and accept TSJ's offer to stay to the end!) and an insane love triangle (not for one second do I accept that Blair would be romantically drawn to the man whose actions/silence mindscrewed her children and deprived them of their real father).

So I voted for Kish. Beginning, middle, end, logical progression, no character assassination.

[Melgaypet]

So I had a dream last night about a wicked alternate universe Fish, and now I'm wondering: what were the best and worst Evil Twin/Doppelganger stories on OLTL?

Best: I want to say Faux Bo, but just because of that awesome name, I don't actually remember many details. It may have been as awesome as it sounds. The Tale of Two Todd was a very flawed story - as Panopticon eloquently outlined above - but for stories I actually remember, I guess I have to vote for this one.

ETA: No, wait! I take it back! I think the the Walker Laurence story - Flynn and Talker - was probably better. Back when Trevor St. John's acting choices were fresh and interesting, instead of maddening and incomprehensible.

Worst: Stagi. Ugh. That may have been the stupidest thing I've ever seen on a soap.

Now that I'm thinking about it, OLTL didn't go to the doppelganger well all that often, did they? I guess they went with DID stories instead.

Edited July 8, 2016 by Melgaypet

[TeeVee329]

You're right, I feel like OLTL went to the doppelganger well a lot less often than other soaps (didn't Y&R at one point have two on canvas at the same time?  Ugh).

And yeah, Stagi was a hot mess.  Though I did like the nod to AMC's superior doppelganger story with Stacy having gone to the same plastic surgeon as Erica Kane's stalker.

[UYI]

On 7/8/2016 at 7:44 PM, Melgaypet said:

 

Best: I want to say Faux Bo, but just because of that awesome name

That was Patrick London, who I think kidnapped Bo and took his identity. He briefly dated Tina (yes, really) and caused the death of Bo's wife, Didi.

But since that was in 1988, a year before I was born, why was Bo dating Tina if he was supposed to be married to Didi? I need to look that story up again.

Tina did have this Dating Game fantasy while dating Faux Bo.

Edited July 11, 2016 by UYI